Veggie Kids: Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake For My Birthday!

In honor of my 34th birthday today, I had to make a very special cake. Yes, for myself. I'm so darn fussy when it comes to food and I love to create new recipes so why not? This one took me right off of my 3 + weeks raw food track...but it was well worth it!

Chocolate and mayonnaise are a surprisingly awesome combination. At least when it comes to baked goods! And apparently mayo cakes were all too common back in the Depression era. Many vegan cake recipes call for apple cider vinegar which also seems odd but like mayo, that tangy, moist flavor is easy on the tastebuds.

This indulgent cake is layered with chocolate buttercream frosting and topped with a delectable warm caramel drizzle. One bite and you'll be in heaven!

Vintage Chocolate Mayo Cake With Caramel Drizzle

makes two 9" rounds

1 C. whole wheat pastry flour

1 C. all-purpose flour or white pastry flour

1 C. coconut palm or beet sugar

1/3 C. cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 C. vegan mayo (I like Mindful Mayo by Earth Balance)

1 C. water, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Prepare two 9" round cake pans by spraying with non-stick spray and coating with cocoa powder to prevent sticking (it won't show up on your cake like flour will).

3. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, cocoa powder and baking soda.

4. Stir in mayonnaise, water and vanilla, mixing with a large wooden spoon until completely combined and nearly smooth.

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
This recipe is for a standard cake so if you're only using it for the middle layer of this cake, cut the recipe in half...unless you like the idea of having extra frosting laying around!

1/2 C. Earth Balance coconut spread

1/2 C. Earth Balance butter

4 C. confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

~2 Tb. non-dairy milk, vanilla flavor

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, use electric beater to beat together coconut spread and butter until fluffy.

2. Blend in confectioners sugar until smooth.

3. Next, blend in vanilla and milk, beating for at least 2 minutes or until completely smooth and fluffy.

Add more or less milk to reach desired consistency.

Caramel Drizzle

1/2 C. coconut palm or beet sugar

scant 1/2 C. non-dairy milk

1/2 tsp. cooking oil

1/4 tsp. sea salt

walnuts, crushed (or use pecans)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine sugar, milk, oil and salt. Heat until bubbles form, then stir for about one minute.

2. Quickly stir in walnuts or pecans.

3. Turn off heat and immediately drizzle over cake along with crushed walnuts or pecans. Best served warm.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE:

1. Use the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting as the middle layer of the cake.
2. Cover the top of the entire cake with Caramel Drizzle. Slice and serve warm.

I LOVE JULY!

Check out what the boys and I harvested from our backyard! The nectarines smelled like perfume, they were so ripe and fragrant. The pears were literally falling off the tree in droves and the oranges are spectacular as is or for juicing. My kids love picking the carrots before they get too big so they can munch on 'em like baby carrots. Our apricots are sweet and melt in your mouth. I cannot wait for the peaches to become ripe. There's a 5 day window of peach perfection that we will be taking full advantage of!

I feel so grateful to have this available to us.

Thanks so much for all of the birthday wishes and for following Veggie Kids!

This blog started off as a place for me to enter all of my recipes, like a diary, to track what vegan foods I was feeding my kids and family. It really started just for me to be able to keep track of our progress and find my recipes. But it's turned into much more than that and is something I absolutely love. It's lead to my book being published, "The Boy Who Loved Broccoli", many opportunities to meet some amazing people who stand for the same things I do, working on overhauling our local school lunch program, working with clients teaching them how to cook plant-based, healthy meals for their families and developing an iPhone app (so excited to launch it and tell you all about it!).

Thank you all for your support and your healthy eating!